End of Week One...and the start of the semester

So, its official!  I am a full fledged graduate student and so is the BF, we both attended all of our classes and are both slightly overwhelmed - ahhh it feels good to learn...hehe!

This is my first semester, and while I am not teaching, I am taking on three seminars, one intro (the one I mentioned earlier in the previous posting), a seminar on intercultural communication, and the last one I just had on Thursday on conversation analysis (CA), all of which appear to be challenging and hopefully rewarding after the semester ends!  And, in case any of you were wondering, graduate school is NOT like undergrad - you know the slow start, the test in the middle, and the final at the end...yeah I already have a 300 page text book that I apparently should have already read, a group project in every single seminar due in about 2 weeks, and another HUGE book on conversations on cancer that I need to read in order to understand the process of CA. Yeah, a little overwhelming.

BUT - its all about time management right?!?  So, I got a planner and mapped and highlighted my life away!  YAY Dale!  My schedule for the rest of the week went a little like this: I didn't have class on Wednesday, I went to campus for a group meeting and on Thursday I spent some time working on part of the group project word doc table that allowed me to get some stuff off of my mind.  In between of doing all of this I have been reading my text on intercultural competence and trying to get myself into the book on conversations on cancer. So far, I  completed 60ish pages on intercultural while  working on getting 20+ collegiate and peer reviewed articles on the definition of cultural and intercultural identity - FUN right, don't you wish you were me??? :P


Today is Sat, and while I didn't have class yesterday either, I found articles for my intro class to complete the word doc table for the group part and now I have to concentrate on reading, reading, reading.  I don't know what I expected, but I am pretty sure I didn't expect this.  To explain, I have been working for the last 5 years of my life, so to me this "feels" different, it just feels like a different kind of pressure, a different type of competition - or rather maybe more competition and less collaboration since that's entirely what I was trying to do in my last job...collaboration.  I guess its not about making friends but about getting what I need out of the experience to move myself forward, right?!?  I was so used to giving in my last position, that I don't remember how to be selfish...ironic.


....and then again - long weekends feel the same - like a relief!  So, while I did some work yesterday, I also just hung out at home watching netflix (**tear** since I don't have tv anymore - self-inflicted budget cut) and movies and doing the cost saving thing of eating at home (yummy chicken tacos).  Today on the other hand is Sat, which I hope to be a little more productive than yesterday with a trip to Old Town San Diego via trolley (if you wish to see: http://www.oldtownsandiegoguide.com/)!  I'm excited as I feel like I still need to get to know the area in case any of you have the inclination to come and visit me anytime soon! Huh?!? Who's coming to visit me???


I think that's it for today, I will update you as I attend my first colloquium next week and figure out if and or how I am going to attend the national communication association conference in SFO in November...